AustralianSuper respects your privacy
The following is information about AustralianSuper’s Privacy Policy and the way in which AustralianSuper has implemented the requirements of the Privacy Act 1988.
Protecting your personal information is important to AustralianSuper, and is required by law. The Commonwealth Privacy Act determines that AustralianSuper must handle your personal information in accordance with a set of National Privacy Principles.
AustralianSuper collects information that is necessary to administer your account and to keep you informed of opportunities available to you as a Fund member.
Authorised use of information by others
AustralianSuper has appointed a Fund administrator, a life insurer and other organisations to provide services to you on our behalf. They are authorised to use your personal information only to administer your Fund account, under the strictest confidence.
From time to time, AustralianSuper may also commission certain external organisations to assist in the provision of services to members (eg. mail-houses, auditors, lawyers and independent consultants who conduct research on member satisfaction).
AustralianSuper provides members’ names and contact details to such organisations, but only for the purpose of providing, administering or improving member benefits or services.
Your personal information will not be used or disclosed for any other purpose without your consent, except where required by superannuation, taxation or other relevant law. For example, AustralianSuper’s fund administrator is required to report certain information to the Australian Taxation Office for tax related purposes.
Your personal details
The personal information collected by AustralianSuper from you, or through your employer, includes your contact details, date of birth and Tax File Number (TFN), and, where relevant, may include certain details about your health, which you have provided.
Over time, this will be supplemented with financial and other information necessary to administer your account. Additional information may be collected from medical practitioners or from your employer for the purpose of assessing your eligibility for higher levels of insurance cover or for the assessment of a claim. We would only seek such information with your consent.
AustralianSuper has strict security measures in place, and staff who handle your personal information have the knowledge, skills and commitment to protect it from unauthorised access or misuse.
Use and storage of information
When you fill out an application to join AustralianSuper, you are asked to provide information to assist us administer and keep you informed about your account.
Where you do not complete a joining application, your name, date of birth, address and TFN, will be provided to AustralianSuper by your employer to enable us to accept and process your superannuation contributions.
The information we collect and store about you includes: name, address, date of birth, TFN, and where you have requested insurance cover for Death, Total & Permanent Disablement (TPD) or Income Protection, certain information about your health.
If AustralianSuper is unable to collect certain personal information from you, such as contact details, date of birth and TFN, it may not be able to administer your benefits. Also, if you don’t provide your TFN, AustralianSuper will be unable to accept personal after-tax contributions from you and additional tax will be deducted from any employer or salary sacrifice contributions made by you or your employer.
Secure storage of information
Once your details have been recorded by the Fund administrator, your original application is securely stored based on the following application method:
- paper applications are held at the Fund’s document storage facility
- online applications are stored within our electronic secure network.
Access to your information is restricted to staff who require the information to administer your account and provide information and services to you. A system of passwords and different levels of access is used to protect the information held on the system.
Your TFN is recorded in an encrypted form. It is provided to AustralianSuper to be used only for approved purposes as required by legislation.
Information relating to your work
Information that we collect about your job title and occupation is used for statistical purposes only, and will not identify you personally. These details enable us to develop a profile of the Fund’s members, and assist in the future development of investment products and other Fund services. Providing this information is optional, as it is not essential information for the administration of your account.
Nominating your dependants for death benefits
You are asked to advise AustralianSuper of the names of the persons who you would like to receive your superannuation in the event of your death. This information assists the Trustee to distribute your death benefit fairly to your dependants or to your estate.
The Trustee will take your wishes into account, but will also look at all your dependants at the date of your death. Advising AustralianSuper about your relationship with the persons you nominate is not required if you consider this to be an unreasonably intrusive request.
Keeping your details up to date
In order to keep your information as current as possible, we ask that you let us know of any changes to your personal details.
You decide on additional information
If you decide at any time that you do not wish AustralianSuper to advise you of opportunities and additional services open to you as a member of AustralianSuper, you can request to not receive this additional information by writing to us.
Information provided to our insurer regarding insurance cover in AustralianSuper
Our Insurer provides insurance cover for AustralianSuper members for Death, Death and TPD and Income Protection.
AustralianSuper will advise our Insurer of the personal details about you that the Insurer requires to administer and assess insurance-related matters. This information includes your name, date of birth, contact details and information about your health that you have provided to AustralianSuper.
Information about your health
Our Insurer may contact you to seek your consent to collect additional information about your health if you apply for higher levels of insurance cover. Your consent will always be obtained before any details are requested from your treating doctor or other health service providers.
Incomplete or inaccurate information
If you submit incomplete or inaccurate information to our Insurer, they may not be able to provide you with the Insurance cover you are seeking, or complete their assessment of your insurance-related matters.
Information required when making a claim
In the event that you claim for either TPD or Income Protection, the relevant Insurer may provide your personal information to AustralianSuper and our fund administrator, to assist with the assessment and administration of the insurance claim. The Insurer may also pass information to claims investigators, medical practitioners, reinsurers, insurance reference bureaus and certain organisations to whom they outsource some functions.
If your claim is declined and you take legal action or complain to the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT), AustralianSuper and our service providers must provide your personal details and information about your health to legal representatives of AustralianSuper and the Insurer, officers of the SCT and court officials.
In all cases where contractors and agents may become aware of your personal information, strict confidentiality arrangements apply. Personal information may only be used for the purpose of administering and assessing your insurance-related matters.
Your privacy and the internet
What information do we collect?
The information we collect about you depends on how you use the AustralianSuper website.
If you visit an unsecured area of the website (an area where you aren’t required to log-in) to read or download information, the only information recorded by us will be the date and time of your visit to the site, the pages viewed, the operating system in use and any information downloaded. We won’t record information that allows us to identify you.
Interactive tools on the website, such as calculators, often require you to enter personal information. We only retain this information where a calculator, or similar tool, provides you with a Statement of Advice, or allows you to save your information and retrieve it at a later time. The information stored will not ordinarily be viewed by AustralianSuper.
Cookies
A cookie is a small text file sent to the user’s browser that allows the web page server to retrieve information from the computer. Cookies can either be temporary session cookies, or stored permanently on a computer. They are used for a range of purposes, including security and personalising services.
The secure pages (where you log-in) of the AustralianSuper website uses temporary session cookies to provide secure, personalised services. These cookies are removed from your computer when you log-out.
AustralianSuper also uses cookies on the unsecured site to obtain information regarding the use of the website. By using the website you agree to AustralianSuper’s use of technology of this type. You can configure your preferences and options in your browser to reject all cookies, however this means you will be unable to view secure pages.
How we handle email
We will preserve the content of any email that you send us, if we believe we have a legal requirement to do so. Your email message content may be monitored for security issues, including where email abuse is suspected. Our response to you may be monitored for quality assurance purposes.
If you provide us with your email address, we may use it to send regular communications such as updates on new and existing products and services. If you do not wish to receive such information, or previously indicated that you would like to and have now changed your mind, you can log-in to your account and update your email profile, or click the unsubscribe link within the email you received.
Security
AustralianSuper takes many steps to preserve the security of personal information in accordance with this privacy policy. All member information is protected from unauthorised access through the use of secure passwords, usernames and other security procedures. Developments in security and encryption technology are reviewed regularly.
Links
AustralianSuper’s website has links to other internet sites. Once you leave AustralianSuper’s website, the guidelines of this privacy policy no longer apply. Please read carefully relevant privacy policies or terms and conditions governing these linked sites to ensure your privacy is protected.
The AustralianSuper website also contains links to the websites of our third party providers of goods and services. These third party websites may collect information about you, to which AustralianSuper has access. For more details you need to check the relevant privacy policy.
Your rights
As a member of AustralianSuper, you may ask to see the information we hold about you and to have it corrected if necessary.
To find out more about the personal information we hold about you, please call AustralianSuper on 1300 300 273.
If you would like more information about the Privacy Act, you can contact the Federal Privacy Commissioner Service on 1300 363 992, or visit the website at www.privacy.gov.au
If you believe your privacy has been breached, you should write to:
AustralianSuper Privacy Officer
Level 33
50 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne Vic 3000